We've done some indepth research and testing to bring you this comprehensive list of the best free New Zealand business directories. As a top free NZ business directory provider ourselves, we only wanted to share other great directories with you. So, we've used a strict criteria as to whether a directory made our list or not. The criteria was:

• an easy to navigate website
• easy to add and edit a listing
• offers a variety of listing categories, including regional specific ones
• is found often by Google
• has it's business listings found often by Google
• quick approval of new listings
• only listed NZ businesses

Our List of the Top Free NZ Business Directories

1. Business Networking NZ - yes, we are the best! We also give you a great SEO friendly backlink and we have a manual, real person approval system too!
2. Google My Business - a great way to have your site rank in Google search results.
3. Yelp - ideal for physical food selling businesses such as cafes and restaurants, but online only businesses can list too.
4. Finda - found often in Google results, this is a good directory to list in.
5. HotFrog - let's users search via location only, which is handy.
6. Zenbu - seen a lot on Google paid searches.
7. Yalwa - a bit slow to load, but once again appears often in search results.

Yes, our list is short and sweet. We only wanted to share with you business directories which are worth the time and effort to add your details to. It can take up to 30 minutes to add a well written blurb and contact details to a listing and your time is precious.

How to Get the Best SEO Benefit from Your Directory Listing

Here are some great tips on how to optimise for SEO when adding your business details to our free directory.

If you think of each page on the internet as an advertising opportunity for a business, having your business listed on it's own page in a directory gives people another way of finding you. They can find you simply by using the directory and looking for products or services like yours. Or they can be using Google and your listing in the directory comes up.

That means when writing your listing content, you need to optimise it for search engines and people reading it on the directory site.
There are two parts you can complete - the short and long description. In the short description, give a quick synopsis of your business and why someone should find out more about it. In the long description, explain what you sell, why your business is the one the customer should pick and describe your point of difference. Then give a call to action, telling the reader what they should do next - visit your website, contact you etc.

In terms of SEO, firstly you should always write your descriptions for people, not search engines. This means it has to accurately describe what you do, makes sense and provides useful information. Yes, you should include keywords in your descriptions, but not a giant list of them. Instead add a few sprinkled throughout the text where it makes sense.

To learn more about the benefits to your business of adding it's details to a directory, take a read of our article What is a Business Directory now!